


the continental drift

by ipborgdan



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), The Power of Luvv
Genre: Gen, Modern AU, travel AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 18:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20440313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ipborgdan/pseuds/ipborgdan
Summary: Bogdan accidentally acquires a travel buddy.





	the continental drift

**Author's Note:**

> this story takes place in a vague setting that is kind of modern but still magical and definitely not any real place on earth

A generic brand of earl grey tea, a worn map, and a pen politely borrowed from the hostel is enough for Bogdan this morning. They don’t think they can consider this being “up early” when the schedules of the other temporary inhabitants of this hostel vary so wildly. The couple Bogdan talked to the night before hasn’t returned yet from their night on the town, and the woman who claimed she was a travelling librarian left sometime at 4am with all her bags and hasn’t returned. 

Bogdan’s bunkmate, a girl no older than her teens, has been shifting restlessly in and out of sleep all night. Now, she seems to have given up on sleep entirely. She stares blankly at the wall beside her while their other two roommates snore quietly and Bogdan marks up the map spread out on the center table. 

After several more minutes spent writing notes on the logistics of getting to their next destination, Bogdan pauses. The edges of the map are becoming cramped with scribbles that are just new ways to say what they’ve already written. They take a sip of their over-brewed tea and glance at the girl again. She’s still staring like before but now she has a hand lifted to the wall. Bogdan thinks she’s tracing the grooves in the wood. 

Her eyes flick over to Bogdan when they stand and avert away again, like she doesn’t want Bogdan to know she looked. Bogdan just leans down to where they’ve piled their meager belongings at the foot of the lower bunk and pulls out the book the travelling librarian let them "borrow." The paperback cover shows a stylized mirror on a vibrant purple background. There’s no obvious title and Bogdan can’t recall if the librarian mentioned what it was about.

“Here,” Bogdan says, lifting the book up to the girl. “You look like you could use something to occupy your mind with.”

She scrunches up her nose at Bogdan. They just shrug in response and place the book at the edge of her mattress. 

After Bogdan has returned to the chair, finished their tea, and doodled an elaborate and horrible depiction of the animals they saw at the zoo they visited last week, they look up and see the girl’s face masked by the book, already a couple pages in. 

Bogdan slips out of the room to grab breakfast, and when they return the girl has moved from the top bunk to where Bogdan had been sitting. She crouches on the chair like a feral animal, looking over the map. Bogdan stands in the doorway until she looks up.

“Weird book,” she says, holding it up. She has a finger stuck into, holding her place. 

“What’s it about?”

“I don’t know. I thought you knew.”

“I don’t even know what it’s called. Is it fiction?”

She looks confused. “I think it’s science fiction?”

Bogdan nods and goes to stand on the opposite end of the table from her, setting the plate of overripe fruit and bland eggs on the table. They put their hands on their hips and the two of them look down at the red and blue ballpoint pen lines crisscrossing the map like they’re planning some sort of heist. 

“Have you been to all of these places?” she asks.

Bogdan shakes their head. “Nah, the circled ones are places I want to go. And the ones with the squiggly circles are places that I have been. The starred ones are places I plan to go and the square ones are places I might as well go to.”

She blinks down at where Bogdan is pointing to, and Bogdan just then comes to the realization that their penmanship is illegible even when just drawing circles. She points to a place off the coast and asks, “Is this a sea monster?”

“No, but that one is,” Bogdan says, pointing to a different smudged squiggle. 

One of their roommates gives them a half-asleep “ _ shush _ ” and Bogdan falls quiet again. Through the probably decades-old patterned curtains, the sun is starting to show its face. No need to stick around any longer.

Bogdan popped another strawberry in their mouth before sliding the rest of the plate towards the girl, gesturing for her to help herself. They didn’t need any more, having already shoved two muffins into their mouth on their walk back to the room. Bogdan turned back towards the bunk bed and packed up their things as quietly as possible. The girl was still hovering over the map when they turned back, but this time with half the eggs gone and several blueberries on their way to her mouth.

“Is this where you’re going next?” she asks, stopping Bogdan from packing up the map by placing a finger on the next town over. Bogdan nods and she releases her hand, allowing the map to be folded over on the sharp crease lines. 

It takes a little longer than usual for Bogdan to pack all their things, even though they are few, because they’re trying to be quiet. But somehow, when they turn towards the door, the girl is standing there with her own bag completely packed, not having made a single noise that alerted Bogdan to her even moving from the table that whole time. She has a skateboard under her arm that must have been stashed underneath their bunk bed. 

“You heading out, too?” Bogdan says. They get a silent nod in return. 

It takes Bogdan half a block outside of the hostel to realize that the girl is not just going in the same direction as them, but will probably continue to go in the same direction as them.

“I’m Bogdan, by the way,” they say, a little embarrassed that they hadn't done introductions before.

“Krizira.”

“Nice to meet you, Krizira,” Bogdan says, smiling broadly. “Where are you heading?”

Krizira shrugs, and leaves it at that.

“I was going to go through the Cobalt Lake route on my way to Dyro, but I heard from some other travelers that it gets really busy with tourists this time of year,” Bogdan says, continuing as if Krizira has not only responded with real words but has also asked followup questions to continue the conversation. “So that’s why I’m taking the route through more of the farmlands.”

She doesn’t respond, verbally or non-verbally. Just stares straight ahead, but remains walking beside Bogdan at the same pace.

They look down at her, careful not to walk into anything along the sidewalk.

“Is your plan just to follow me where I’m going?” Bogdan asks. Her face tightens up, like she’s uncomfortable that Bogdan would ask instead of just rolling with it. “I mean, that’s fine. The roads are public. But, look, how old are you? Maybe you shouldn’t be hitchhiking with a complete stranger.”

“I’m 19,” she bites out, and Bogdan sincerely doubts that. Then, with the tiniest hint of  _ teasing  _ in her otherwise monotone voice, “and I didn't think you were a hitchhiker.”

“True, but you get my point.”

“Whatever,” Krizira says, and wraps her arms tightly around her skateboard like she’s trying to either use it as a shield or cuddle it like a teddy bear.

“You can just ride it, y’know.” Bogdan nods to the skateboard. “I walk fast, I can keep up.” She looks at them skeptically, and Bogdan adds with a smile, “Maybe you can teach me how to skate on our way to Dyro.”

She rolls her eyes, but there’s a faint quirk of her mouth that  _ almost _ suggests a smile. 


End file.
